Wally Kennedy: Disc golf pro shop opens on Joplin's Range Line Road

May 20—A disc golf pro shop, the Local Route, has opened in a small storefront in the Joplin Memorial Plaza shopping center at 2210 S. Range Line Road. It's across the road from Chick-fil-A.

The shop was opened in April by Tucker Sharp and Paul Hughes, disc golf enthusiasts who are promoting the sport locally. What they learned was that the name of their shop, the Local Route, which is a type of throw in disc golf, as in "I took the local route," had already been taken by a disc golf shop in Florida. Sharp said an agreement was reached where the Joplin shop would be the first Local Route outside of Florida.

Visiting the shop changed my perception of disc golf, a flying disc sport in which players throw a disc at a target. The sport has developed into a nuanced competitive endeavor. Sure, you can still throw a Frisbee at a basket, but real pros use specific discs to meet the challenge at hand. There are putters, mid-range discs and drivers for distance. The discs come with stability ratings, a reference to their characteristics in flight. These are not your father's Frisbees. They range in price from $11 to $30 each, with the average being about $17 to $18. The Local Route carries about 10 disc brands.

But wait — there's more. Like a pro golfer, a disc golfer needs a designer bag to carry around their discs. The typical player has a minimum of six discs. These are backpacks that are specifically designed for disc golf. There are three-legged stools that you can carry in your backpack, too. Who wants to stand around and wait for the slowpokes ahead of you to finish up? You have to conserve your energy. This is a taxing sport, mind you.

We can thank a fellow by the name of "Steady" Ed Headrick for the design of the modern Frisbee. Headrick added bands of ridges, called the "Rings of Headrick," to the Frisbee to stabilize the disc in flight. It was introduced in 1957. He and his son, Ken Headrick, would go on to start the first golf disc business in 1976. They would introduce the revolutionary golf disc basket a year later.

It's now one of the fastest growing sports in the United States and worldwide, according to the Professional Disc Golf Association. It's played in 47 countries. There are 25 disc golf courses within 20 miles of Joplin.

If you want to see the sport in action, the Full Turn Open, sponsored by Local Route, will be held Saturday in Joplin's McClelland Park. Full Turn is a local disc golf company. Play will be from about 10 a.m. to noon, and then again in the afternoon. More than 50 players have signed up.

"Everyone is welcome to come and watch," Sharp said. "It's just like pro golf where you can follow your favorite card."

On the rebound

We heard the stories of how local restaurants and hotels struggled through the pandemic. A recent lodging tax summary by the Joplin Convention & Visitors Bureau shows how bad it was for local hotels.

Occupancy fell from approximately 61% in 2019 to 48% in 2020. Revenue from 23 properties fell from $35.9 million in 2019 to $27.2 million in 2020. That caused city revenue from the lodging tax to fall by almost $400,000.

The numbers, as bad as they are, don't reflect how truly dire the situation was in 2020. Pete Hall, manager of the Residence Inn by Marrriott, said, "In March of that year, our industry began seeing significant cancellations of business on the books. By the end of April, 97% of our business on the books had been canceled. This was nationwide."

Hundreds of employees were furloughed. Imagine trying to operate a 300-room hotel with only five rooms rented on a good night and three people doing everything.

But unlike the east and west coasts, Joplin's location in the middle of the country would prove to be an advantage.

"What happened to the hotel industry was unprecedented," Hall said. "But because we are sort of insulated here in the Midwest, our recovery began very quickly. By the end of September, we had all of our employees and staff back. Some areas are just now coming out of the pandemic."

The numbers for 2021 show that Joplin's hotel market is rebounding. Occupancy is at 58.8%. Revenue is now higher than it was before the pandemic.

What is important to note here is that there is a direct correlation between the health of Joplin's hotels and its restaurants. If Joplin's hotels are suffering, so are its restaurants.

"I have got to give a shout out to our restaurant colleagues during the pandemic," Hall said. "They have created new business models to survive. When you think about it, it's really changed for all of us since 2020."

Despite the recovery in 2021, strong headwinds, including inflation, higher fuel costs and higher labor costs, are now adversely impacting the hospitality industry. The road to recovery might be getting a little bumpy.

Contact Wally Kennedy at wkennedy@joplinglobe.com.